The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Global Wealth Strategies & Associates

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 119.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in Progressive were worth $39,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Progressive by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after buying an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total value of $351,985.27. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,025,375.28. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,651 shares of company stock valued at $12,063,480. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $276.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $275.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.26. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $162.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.70%.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.